Professional and Service Awards

Numerous Awards and Travel Grants are funded through the generous grants received from various Senior Members / Fellows of the IEEE and WAMS.

P1: Dr. Sudhakar Rao’s Special Recognition Award for WAMS 2026

This special recognition award is instituted by Dr. Rao to promote WAMS 2026 among volunteers, professionals, and researchers in India and abroad.

Criteria: Selection shall be made for an individual or individuals based on outstanding and sustained contributions during 2025–2026 that resulted in significant growth in WAMS 2026, WAMS Society, and IEEE APS membership.

Award: The awardee shall receive a cash prize of INR 1,00,000 (1 Lakh), a specially engraved plaque, a shawl, and a certificate. The awardee shall be felicitated by the IEEE APS President, WAMS Society President, and Dr. Rao during the WAMS 2026 awards banquet.

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Awardee

P2: Dr. Sudhakar Rao Award for Best Paper of WAMS 2026

Criteria: Selection shall be based on originality and potential application to an engineering product that is related to any of the three tracks of the symposium. It will be judged based on the innovative approach of the paper’s contents. The award shall be given to students or professionals aged 50 years or below, and the awardee shall be the first author of the accepted paper for oral presentation. The paper must be presented during the symposium to qualify for the award.

Award: The awardee, first author of the selected paper, will receive a cash prize of INR 50,000, a plaque, a certificate, and all the registered co-authors will receive certificates.

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Awardee

Paper Title: Dual-Resolution Multi-Beam Antenna System for K/Ka-Band HTS: Design, Realization, and In-Orbit Validation.

P3: Dr. C.J. Reddy Best Paper Award for Female Young Professionals

Criteria: The awardee shall be 40 years of age or younger and shall be the first author of a paper presented orally during the symposium in the antenna track and registered for the conference.

Award: The awardee shall receive a cash prize of INR 25,000, a plaque, & a certificate, and all the registered co-authors shall receive certificates.

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Awardee

Paper Title: Development of K-Band MIMO Antenna Array with Integrated Radome for Automotive Radar Applications

P4: Dr. C.J. Reddy Best Paper Award for Male Young Professionals

Criteria: The awardee shall be 40 years of age or younger and shall be the first author of a paper presented orally during the symposium in the antenna track and registered for the conference.

Award: The awardee shall receive a cash prize of INR 25,000, a plaque, & a certificate, and all the registered co-authors shall receive certificates.

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Awardee

Paper Title: Compact Vertically Assisted Metasurface Mounted Vivaldi Antenna with Bandwidth and Gain Enhancement for Wi-Fi Mounted Applications

Awardee

Paper Title: Metasurface-Based Polarization Independent Single Passband Filter Towards GSM Band Application

P5: Vitesse Award for Antenna Application Paper

This award is sponsored by Vitesse Systems, Longmont, Colorado, USA.
Criteria: Selection shall be based on the antenna hardware application to satellite or ground communication systems. The paper must be presented orally during the conference, and the awardee shall be the first author of the paper.

Award: The awardee, who is the first author of the paper and registered for the conference, will receive a cash prize of INR 20,000, a plaque, a certificate, and all the registered co-authors shall receive certificates.

Sponsor

Awardee

Paper Title: Design and Development of Ridge Gap Waveguide Fed 2×2 Slot Elements Array Antenna for Millimeter Wave Applications

P6. Dr. Nacer Chahat Award for Best Antenna Paper from the Industry Female Professional

This award is sponsored by the WAMS Society to recognize women engineers who excelled in engineering in the areas of Wireless, Antenna, & Microwaves.

Criteria: The awardee shall be an industry female professional and must be the first author of an accepted paper for oral presentation, registered for the conference, and the paper must have practical significance.

Award: The selected awardee shall receive a cash prize of INR 10,000, a plaque, a certificate, and all the registered co-authors shall receive certificates.

Sponsor

Awardee

Paper Title: Towards Efficient THz Image Analysis: Comparing Vision Transformer and CNN Architectures

P7. Dr. Nacer Chahat Award for Best Antenna Paper from the Industry Male Professional

Criteria: The awardee shall be an industry male professional and must be the first author of an accepted paper for oral presentation, registered for the conference, and the paper must have practical significance.

Award: The awardee shall receive a cash prize of INR 10,000, a plaque, a certificate, and all the registered co-authors shall receive certificates.

Sponsor

Awardee

Paper Title: Design and Practical Implementation of Circularly Polarized Antenna System on Satellite for AIS Application

P8. Dr. Jonathan Sauder Award for Best Collaborative RF/Mechanical Antenna Design Paper

Criteria: This award will be given to a paper that best highlights collaborative design efforts between RF and Mechanical/Structural/or Manufacturing Engineers. The paper must be presented orally during the conference, and must have at least two authors, one of whom is the RF lead and the other is the mechanical lead. The awardees will be the lead RF engineer and the lead mechanical engineer on the paper (only one is required to be present, but both will receive a prize and award).

Award: The awardees shall be the first two authors of the paper and registered participants of the conference, and will receive a cash prize of INR 20,000 (shared between two), a plaque, a certificate, and all other registered co-authors shall receive certificates.

Sponsor

Awardee

Paper Title: Performance Analysis of Lens based Circularly Polarized Antenna Array

P9. WAMS 2026 Career Excellence Award in Engineering

Criteria: This award is sponsored by the WAMS Society. The award is presented to the professional engineer who has excelled in his/her career with demonstrated outstanding contributions to society.

Award: The awardee receives a cash prize of INR 20,000, a plaque, and a certificate.

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Awardee

P10. WAMS 2026 Professional Excellence Award for Women in Engineering

This award is sponsored by the WAMS Society to recognize women engineers who excelled in engineering in the areas of Wireless, Antenna, & Microwaves.

Criteria: Professional women engineers who excelled in their careers and are known as “role models” to students and young professionals are considered for this award.

Award: The awardee shall receive a cash prize of INR 20,000, a plaque, and a certificate.

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Awardee

P11. Young Professionals Excellence Award

Criteria: This award is sponsored by the WAMS Society. The award is presented to a young professional under the age of 40 who demonstrates a promising career path in the areas of Wireless, Antennas, and Microwave Engineering.

Award: The awardee receives a cash prize of INR 15,000, a plaque, and a certificate.

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Awardee

P12. Young Professional Service Award

Criteria: This award is sponsored by the WAMS Society and is presented to a Young Professional who has made significant contributions to the WAMS Society and WAMS 2026.

Award: The awardee receives a cash prize of INR 10,000, a plaque, and a certificate.

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Awardee

P13. WAMS 2026 Best Paper in Wireless Track

This award is sponsored by the WAMS Society.

Criteria: The awardee shall be the first author of a paper submitted in the wireless track and orally presented in WAMS 2026 and registered for the conference.

Award: The awardee shall receive a cash prize of INR 10,000, a plaque, a certificate, and all the registered co-authors shall receive certificates.

Sponsor

Awardee

Paper Title: Performance Analysis of Cooperative RIS-assisted Cellular Networks

P14. WAMS 2026 Best Paper in Microwave Track

Criteria: The award is presented to the best paper in the microwave track.

Award: The awardee shall be the first author of the paper and registered for the conference, and shall receive a cash prize of INR 10,000, a plaque, a certificate, and all the registered co-authors shall receive certificates.

Sponsor

Awardee

Paper Title: Electromagnetic Performance Analysis of Streamlined Radomes Under Asymmetric Temperature Distribution

P15. WAMS 2026 Best Paper from Industry in Microwave Track

Criteria: Industry professionals working in areas related to microwaves are eligible for this award. The award is instituted by the WAMS Society.

Award: The selected awardee shall be the first author of a paper accepted for oral presentation in WAMS 2026. The awardee must register for the conference and present the paper to receive the award. A cash prize of INR 10,000, a plaque, and a certificate will be presented to the first author. The co-authors receive certificates.

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Awardee

P16. WAMS 2026 Best Paper in Antenna Track

Criteria: The award is presented to the best paper in the antenna track.

Award: The awardee shall be the first author of the paper and registered for the conference, and shall receive a cash prize of INR 15,000, a plaque, a certificate, and all the registered co-authors shall receive certificates.

Sponsor

Awardee

Paper Title: Study on Bandwidth Extension of Spearhead-Shaped Monopole Antenna for Sub-THz Communications

Awardee

Paper Title: A Simple Suppression Technique of Cross-Polarized Radiation of a Strip-Fed Cylindrical Dielectric Resonator Antenna

P17. WAMS 2026 Best Overall Paper of all Tracks

Criteria: This award is sponsored by the WAMS Society. The awardee shall be the first author of the paper and registered for the conference.

Award: The awardee receives a cash prize of INR 15,000, a plaque, and a certificate.

Sponsor

Awardee

Paper Title: A 1-Bit Broadband Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface for 5G Millimeter-Wave Application

P18. Dr. Zubair Akhter Award for Multi-Disciplinary Collaborative Research Best Paper

Criteria: Eligible candidates for this esteemed award include undergraduate, postgraduate, and research students who are the first authors of orally presented papers across all symposium tracks. The selected paper shall demonstrate collaborative research efforts involving two or more institutions, showcasing the power of interdisciplinary teamwork in advancing knowledge and innovation.

Award: The recipient of the Dr. Zubair Akhter Award shall be the first author of the outstanding paper and must be registered for the conference.

The award package includes a cash prize of INR 20,000, a beautifully crafted plaque, and a certificate of recognition. Additionally, all registered co-authors will receive certificates, celebrating their contributions to this collaborative endeavor. This award not only recognizes excellence in research but also champions the collaborative spirit that is essential for addressing the multifaceted challenges of our time.

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Awardee

Paper Title: A 5.8-GHz Slotted Microstrip Antenna Array for Breast Tumor Detection

Awardee

Paper Title: Design and Implementation of a Compact Slotted Monopole Antenna with a Partially Reflective Surface for Breast Tumor Detection at 915 MHz

P19. WAMS 2026 Outstanding Organizer Award

Criteria: The award is presented to a Young Professional who has made significant contributions to the WAMS Society and WAMS 2026.

Award: The awardee receives a cash prize of INR 15,000, a plaque, and a certificate.

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Awardee

P20. WAMS 2026 Award for Outstanding Contributor to the Technical Program of WAMS 2026

Criteria: The award is presented to the outstanding contributor to the technical program of WAMS 2026.

Award: The awardee receives a cash prize of INR 15,000, a plaque, and a certificate.

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Awardee

P21. WAMS 2026 Outstanding Local Organizer

Criteria: The award is presented to an individual who led a team of volunteers and made significant contributions to the success of the WAMS 2026 Symposium.

Award: The selected awardee receives a cash prize of INR 10,000, a plaque, and a certificate.

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Awardee

P22. Dr. Desmond Sim Award for Best Paper in Antenna Design for Mobile Devices

Criteria: The awardee shall be either an undergraduate/postgraduate/research student and be the first author of an orally presented paper related to all tracks of the symposium.

Award: The first author receives a cash prize of INR 20,000, a plaque, and a certificate. Co-authors receive certificates.

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Awardee

Paper Title: Design of a Self-Isolated Wearable 4-Port MIMO Antenna for 5G Applications

Awardee

Paper Title: Conformal Bio-inspired Graphene Antenna for Next-Gen Wearable Systems

P23. Dr. Jayshri Kulkarni Award for outstanding paper in the design and application of wearable antennas

Criteria: The award is presented to an outstanding paper in the design and application of wearable antennas. The author(s) need to register and present the selected paper during WAMS 2026.

Award: The first author of the paper receives a cash prize of INR 20,000, a plaque, and a certificate. Co-authors receive certificates.

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Awardee

Paper Title: A flower-shaped wearable MIMO Antenna for detection of brain tumour

Awardee

Paper Title: An Ultra-Compact Flexible Wideband Antenna for Wearable Body Area Network Applications

P24. WAMS 2026 Best Poster Paper (First Place)

Criteria: The award is presented to the best poster paper (first place).

Award: The awardee shall be the first author of the paper and registered for the conference, will receive a cash prize of INR 15,000, a plaque, a certificate, and all the registered co-authors shall receive certificates.

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Awardee

P25. WAMS 2026 Best Poster Paper (Second Place)

Criteria: The award is presented to the best poster paper (second place).

Award: The awardee shall be the first author of the paper and registered for the conference, will receive a cash prize of INR 10,000, a plaque, a certificate, and all the registered co-authors shall receive certificates.

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Awardee

P26. WAMS 2026 Best Poster Paper (Third Place)

Criteria: The award is presented to the best poster paper (third place).

Award: The awardee shall be the first author of the paper and registered for the conference, will receive a cash prize of INR 5,000, a plaque, a certificate, and all the registered co-authors shall receive certificates.

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Awardee

P27. Prof. Lot Shafai's Best Paper from an Industry in the areas of Applied Electromagnetics and Antennas by a Female Professional

Criteria: The awardee shall be a registered female professional from the industry and shall be the first author of a paper accepted for oral presentation in the antenna track of WAMS 2026.

Award: The selected candidate receives a cash prize of INR 20,000, a plaque, and a certificate. Co-authors receive certificates.

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Awardee

P28. Prof. Lot Shafai's Best Paper from an Industry in the areas of Applied Electromagnetics and Antennas by a Male Professional

Criteria: The awardee shall be a registered male professional from the industry and shall be the first author of a paper accepted for oral presentation in the antenna track of WAMS 2026.

Award: The selected candidate receives a cash prize of INR 20,000, a plaque, and a certificate. Co-authors receive certificates.

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Awardee

P29. Paladugu Rama Krishna Gokhale Memorial Award for Best Leadership in Volunteering & Mentoring – WAMS 2026

This award is instituted by Prof. Paladugu Satish Rama Chowdary in loving memory of his father, Late Paladugu Rama Krishna Gokhale.

Description: The Paladugu Rama Krishna Gokhale Memorial Award for Best Leadership in Volunteering for WAMS 2026 will be presented during the Awards Banquet. It is given to a self-motivated volunteer of the WAMS Conference Series, especially WAMS 2026, who has demonstrated exceptional leadership, mentoring, and excellence in coordinating multiple volunteer teams.

Award: The awardee shall receive a cash prize of INR 15,000 along with a commemorative plaque and certificate.

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Awardee

P30. WAMS 2026 Distinguished Service Award for Leadership, Mentoring, & Committees Coordination

This award is instituted by the WAMS Society to recognize an outstanding leader for services towards mentoring students and young professionals, and for effectively coordinating among multiple committees in making WAMS 2026 a great success.

Description: The WAMS 2026 Distinguished Service Award for Leadership, Mentoring, & Committees Coordination will be presented during the Awards Banquet. It honors individuals who have demonstrated exceptional leadership, dedication to mentoring, and excellence in organizing and managing collaborative efforts across various committees.

Award: The awardee shall receive a cash prize of ₹20,000 along with a commemorative plaque and certificate.

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Awardee

P31. WAMS Society’s Outstanding Service Award

Criteria: This award is to recognize an individual with outstanding service towards WAMS Society activities including membership drive, WAMS 2026 and others.

Award: The awardee receives a cash prize of INR 10,000, a plaque, and a certificate.

WAMS 2026